Farmers have been aised to make business plans in order to manage their enterprises well.

In an interview recently, senior technical officer in the Department of Agri-Business Promotions, Mr Isaac Charles said a business plan was a detailed plan outlining every aspect of a proposed business venture.

“A business plan is a comprehensive, self-explanatory plan of what you intend doing, how you intend doing it, when you intend doing it, why you believe your idea is viable, where you intend doing it and how you intend financing it. It is in essence a structured guideline to achieving goals,” he said.

He explained that a business plan was important as it forced one to arrange thoughts in a logical order. He noted that a business plan simulated reality and anticipated pitfalls before they occured.

“Preparing a business plan helps the owner to foresee problems before they occur and helps him to deal with them before they may occur and cause damage to the business,” he pointed out.

Mr Charles also noted that a business plan was a working action plan, adding that it was an essential decision-making tool and useful when recruiting new staff.

Another importance of a business plan, he said, was when one was applying for financial assistance or when trying to sell one’s idea. “One of the most important things in business is finance.

Even a brilliant marketing plan will never allow a small business to break even if financially it is unable to do so, so it is important to spend a great deal of time working out a detailed financial plan. When doing a financial plan, try by all means to be realistic and avoid being over-optimistic in your projections,” he said.

Mr Charles explained that whatever format an entrepreneur decided on, it was worth noting that a business plan should at all times be of good appearance, saying that first impressions were often lasting impressions.

“If your business plan looks sloppy and there are numerous spelling mistakes then others might interpret that as indicative of your character. It is aisable to avoid such errors as they can reflect negatively on an entrepreneur,” he added.

Mr Charles further said the length of a business plan depended on the degree of sophistication of one’s intended venture. “When preparing a business plan, ensure that the front page is professional looking, business-like, neat and eye-catching.

It should contain the name of the business, the name of the owner or the names of owners, the address and other contact details of the owner of the business.

It should also contain the logo or emblem if there is any as well as the date it was presented. Also, divide the contents page into clearly numbered headings with corresponding page numbers,” he aised.

Mr Charles stressed that a business plan must include the venture’s goals, pointing out that without specific goals that were realistic, achievable, measurable and have definite target dates, planning becomes a futile exercise. He aised farmers to seek help from professionals when there was a need.